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He’s gotten too far under my skin. I actually care about him now. And just like me, he has come here to be with me and get away from his family.
Fuck. What do I do now?
We eat in silence for a while. Finally, he says, “Thank you. I’m glad you get it.”
“Oh, yeah, I get it. I understand now when you mentioned wanting to punch my dad.”Is that too much to admit?I glance at him, wondering if I overstepped at a sensitive moment.
He scoffs. “You’re going to girl-fight my sister?” He eyes me, and I see the amusement on his lean face.
I blink a few times. “I mean... if she doesn’t shut up and act right, I’ll certainly be tempted...”
He chuckles and gets his smile back on his face. “I get it. I mean, probably not a good idea to do it, but I have to admit... themental image kinda makes me smile. She’s the sort who cries when she breaks a nail.”
“I am... definitely not. Nothing against super feminine women, but I never saw the point of a manicure so expensive it leaves you in tears when it gets ruined.”
That makes him squint thoughtfully between bites of salmon and salad. “I wouldn’t call her super feminine. She’s just super vain. Not the same thing.”
“All crazy for spending Daddy’s money, huh?”
“Absolutely. And she’s got a crazy grudge against me. I can’t even fully explain why, either. It’s just always been that way.” He finishes his salmon and picks at his salad like he isn’t sure why he put leaves on his plate.
I chuckle. “Are you one of those guys who never eats vegetables unless they’re mixed in with other stuff you actually like?”
“Nah, I just apparently suck at making vinaigrette.” He laughs it off.
An hour later, I’m full, slightly drunk from the champagne, and thinking less and less about my messed up family. We have his laptop open in front of us and are going through the last of the security videos. I catch myself staring at one guy on the tapes who doesn’t fit with everyone else.
He’s medium height, neither skinny nor fat, with a bland, unkempt look that reminds me of the kind of guys who pack gaming stores and conventions. I can practically tell how he smells just from his appearance. I remember seeing him before from the tapes, but for some reason, he didn’t jump out at me the way he does now.
“Who is this guy?” I ask, wondering why he’s caught my attention so completely.
“My sister’s weed connection, I’m almost certain. The guy’s been hanging around off and on for a couple of weeks. She says he’s fixing her computer, but that’s bullshit. When she breaks things, she just gets my parents to buy her another.”
“Weird.”But is it relevant?
No way of knowing. But even as we move on, I can’t stop thinking about the guy and how out of place he looks.
Another hour, and we are done looking through the videos, with nothing to show except for one nagging feeling about one guy that I can’t even back up with facts. It pisses me off. I really just want to have all this over with, have it behind us, bad guys punished, money gotten, parents satisfied.
But there’s still a lot of work and some luck between here and there.
“I want to look closer at this ‘weed connection’ of your sister’s. Who the hell is he? Where did he come from? What is his actual relationship with your sister?” I say it carefully, worried that Michael is going to get defensive of his family again.
And he does. “I don’t think my sister’s wrapped up in any of this. She’s not the one. She’s not even smart enough to pull off something like stealing from me.”
“Maybe she isn’t, but maybe he is,” I urge, as his mouth works and he looks away from me.Fuck, not this again.“Look, you keep talking about how she’s dumber than a box of hammers. Maybe he’s manipulating her.”
He looks up at me, some of the anger and defensiveness fading from his face. “Manipulating her?”
But then, he shakes his head. “No, she’s... look, I told you she’s vain as hell. Vain people are also shallow as hell, for the most part. I don’t think this guy could manipulate her very easily. He’s a schlub. A hot guy could manipulate her easily.”
“Well, it was a thought.” I’m backpedaling more than I should. It’s stupid how defensive he gets about his family and how he does it in the weirdest ways. “It seems like we should finish a look into his background just for thoroughness.”
He gestures in that fake, nonchalant way I hate. “Okay, yeah, you’ve got a point, spend time on it if you want—”
“Michael... if I do that, will you actually be willing to look at what I find for you?” I ask quietly.
He bristles, his eyes flashing slightly. “What does that mean? Of course, I’ll want to know if he’s the guy.”